


Will and Dipper's Winter Shenanigans (AKA WillDipWeek2018)

by RudeArry



Category: Gravity Falls, Reverse Falls - Fandom
Genre: M/M, WillDip Week 2018, Willdip Week
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-10
Updated: 2018-12-29
Packaged: 2019-09-15 19:20:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16939188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RudeArry/pseuds/RudeArry
Summary: This will include all 7 of my WillDip Week 2018 oneshots.The fics are standalones, are not in linear order and are not connected to one another. They're just a bit of fun.Day 1- AdventureDay 2 - SnowDay 3 - SeasonalDay 5 - Cultural ExchangeDay 6 - Holiday Themed(Day 4 will be posted seperately later for several reasons).





	1. Adventure

**Author's Note:**

> For the readers of my other fic - I'm sorry but this isn't a continuation nor is it related to that fic.  
> Feel free to criticize my bad choices, I understand it. Tertiary WILL get another chapter before the end of December, though, and I'm gonna work on the next few and get into a sane release schedule in early 2019.
> 
> To everyone else, These are my bad oneshots for WillDipWeek2018 that I wrote on very little sleep between way too many 12 hour work shifts because I may be busy but I'm not letting this ship sink, damnit! I'd say I hope you enjoy, but I won't be offended if you don't find this very enjoyable. In which case - my apologies.

Looking around him for what must’ve been the hundredth time that evening and seeing nothing different about his surroundings except signs that the sun must be setting already, Dipper sighed. The recent week has been uncharacteristically rainy for the season, with strong winds that came out of nowhere, uprooted trees and made everyone – both humans and magical critters –start complaining. And there he was, the midst of it all, trying to remember how to reach the unicorn clearing for some of their mane hair.

 

 Which was easier said than done, especially now that the forest looked completely different with his two usual paths blocked off.  
He found a dry tree to lean against and started evaluating his options.

“Well?” a loud, bored voice greeted him from atop said tree. “Giving up yet? Let me know when you do.”

 

“You know, Cipher, I don’t think it’s fair for you to offer me ‘help’ navigating a place I know well enough anyway.”

“If you know it so well, why won’t you just reach your destination already?” the demon said, revealing himself and climbing down slightly to lower branches closer to the human.

“I’m starting to think that it was you, not the wind, who trashed the forest,” Dipper replied,

“because if you’re half as entertained by the frustrations of gnomes and squirrels as you are by my own, I’d say this crime has motive.”

 

The demon’s single eye widened almost comically.

“Me? Surely you wouldn’t accuse an adorable, friendly demon… of ecological terrorism?”

Despite his best effort not to do just that, Dipper couldn’t help but laugh at the demon’s

exaggeratedly shocked, hurt tone.

“I’d have a better case accusing you of being annoyingly persistent.”

The demon smiled.

“Well, I’ve learned from the best. You’d rather run in circles like a lunatic for five hours than ask for help!”

“Where’s the fun in having someone do my work for me?” the human replied. “It’s not very exciting to use magic save the day and fix everything the moment something happens around here, either.”

The demon shrugged. "Maybe I _should_ use some magic to remove all of those dead plants from the main path anyway..."

"As you wish. I'm not giving up yet though,"  the human countered. "I'm having fun just walking around without relying on magic for once."

“Alright,” the demon sighed, climbing fully down the tree now. “Can I at least join you on your exciting, magic-free walk?”

Dipper just smiled before picking a direction to start walking again and gestured at the demon to follow him.

 

 

* * *

 

 

“…And we haven’t seen any spirits here ever since.” Dipper concluded. Since he’s walked around in circles for at least another two hours with Will, he decided to tell him about his last encounters with various forest creatures. The demon, on his part, seemed rather entertained.

“That’s nice. I didn’t know there are tree spirits in these woods. Well, unless you count me, of course. But that’s a technicality because I’m neither a spirit nor do I live here, really.” The demon hummed before turning back to Dipper.

“How about the unicorns? Have you everactually met those?”

“Not really,” Dipper replied. It was all Mabel and her friends. She kept saying they were pretty evil and stuff. Personally, I don’t think- hey, is it just me or did it get much darker right now?”

The demon looked around him, curious. “It’s darker alright. I think we’re getting close.”

“So we just need to walk into a black void or something? Well, that’s fine.” Dipper shrugged, walking forward. He noticed a bunch of stone slabs, standing in a circle with two stone archways among

them. He frowned. They’ve passed this place… well, about four times now. He stopped, turning back to Will.

“You know… Maybe you’re right. Maybe we’ve walked enough for today. I should have taken you up on the help offer since the beginning. Or cleared away the fallen trees myself. I mean, it’s not like I needed to preserve strength or magic for anything else. Today has just been boring, I’m sorry you had to suffer that for hours.”

The demon frowned. He was about to speak up, when a loud rumble caught both his and Dipper’s attention. The stone circle started rising up, along with the ground it stood on. Dipper took a few steps away from it, confused. In the darkness, he could just barely notice a large gate at the side of the newly formed strange looking fortress that rose out of the ground.

“Huh. What do you know? Maybe it wasn’t a complete waste of time after all!”

Will shrugged, following the human to the entrance gate.

 

As said gates opened, seemingly on their own, a few dozen bats flew out, flapping their wings and screeching loudly into the night. Will summoned some light to help them see, and as they went inside, they came face to face with a lot of fog…

…and an impressive looking horse with a horn on its head.

 

“Well, well,” the creature spoke in a low, grave, booming voice. “It appears I have guests. I would welcome you, of course, had any reason to welcome your kind.”

Well, apparently even a creature whose every feature was powerful and magical could be pretty stupid, Will thought. Because either the damn horse was mistakenly refering to the both of them as members of the same species, or he was ignoring one of them entirely. Either way, that would be a stupid decision to make. But then again, nearly everybody forgot that Will was a demon from time to time. It's amazing how quickly other creatures would treat a demon by their physical form so long as the demon wouldn't kill other living beings or burn things. 

“Ah, a pity,” Dipper began, trying to give himself a calm air of importance and authority, as if trying to match the univorn in tone. “You see, we are here for some of your hair. We’ve heard it enhances magical abilities.”

“You’ve heard correctly. Unfortunately for you, however, I cannot be of any help. I only serve the dark forces, you see. The powers I can give would not do you two much good.”

“Actually,” Dipper smiled, taking a few steps towards Will. “I think they’d do just fine. You see, as far as the dark forces go, we’re pretty evil, he and I.” At that, he put a hand on Will’s shoulder. The demon raised an eyebrow. The unicorn seemed skeptical, too.

“This guy right here - This is Will Cipher. He’s a demon, you see. Destroyed his own dimension, now he’s here. About as evil as you can get.”

Will blinked. He did? well,  he certainly wasn't aware of it. He looked between Dipper and the unicorn, checking to see if the latter was buyingit.

 

“…Right," the unicorn replied, slowly, probably calling the bluff. "And how about you? What’s _**your** _name and track record?I bet it's just as fancy as your demon friend's.”

...Aaaand he wasn't buying it. Right.

Will briefly started wondering whether or not he should get prepared for a fight.

 

“...Dipper Gleeful. My track record is typical. You know, murder, plans of world domination, the usua-”

Dipper’s explanation was cut short by a mix between a horse whinny and a laugh. The human looked rather offended, and crossed his arms as the animal continued laughing until the noise died down to mainly snorts.

“Alright, there, Dipper. Looks like we both need to come clean, don’t we?” the animal suggested once it was done laughing.

The human looked confused.

“What?”

“You’re Mabel’s brother, aren’t you?” 

“…I don’t see how that’s relevant.”

“You two are harmless. You used to do these adorable little shows, didn’t you? With the fake but realistic-looking levitating knives and oh-so-scary card readings and predictions about when and how people were going to die. I remember now.”

Dipper looked outright insulted.

“That… that was a long time ago. It’s different, now.”

“Oh, I’m sure.” The unicorn replied.

“I bet I could defeat you in combat easily enough.” Dipper countered, already bracing himself for some possible incoming attack. “And then I’ll take some of your hair whether you want to give it or not.”

“Calm down, Gleeful, there’s no need for that.” The unicorn sighed. Dipper and Will exchanged confused looks before looking at the creature, waiting for an explanation.

“The whole ‘dark forces’ thing is just something I made up to scare humans away, and to know how to spot the really deranged ones that actually do pose a threat.”

“So… This is all a front?” Will asked. “The bats, the whole night and darkness stuff?”

“Well, the bats like it here when the place is underground and us unicorns _**are** _nocturnal,” the creature explained. “I guess it does help maintain the illusion, doesn’t it?”

“…Yeah.” Dipper shrugged, visibly relaxing. “So, how come you… uh…”

“Jim,” the unicorn provided. “My name’s Jim.”

“Right. Jim. How come you remember Mabel of all people? I thought she last saw you years ago.”

Jim shook his head before looking at Dipper and Will again.

“It’s a long story. Do you have any time?”

“Yeah,” Will answered, motioning for Dipper to sit down, despite the human's facial expression. “Plenty.”

 

* * *

 

Will took a glance at Dipper. They were walking for a while, and he bet the human was tired and wanted to get home. He didn’t like the human’s silence, though. The demon looked up as they exited the forest. The mansion Dipper lived in was visible now, a five minutes’ walk, maybe less.

 He turned to the human.

“Dipper? Is everything alright?”

When the human didn’t respond, will sighed and stepped a little closer, taking Dipper’s hand in both his own.

The human jumped, looking back at him as if snapped out of a trance. “What?”

“…Are you okay?”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

The demon was silent for a moment before speaking again.

“You know. You look kinda… off, since we left. I know you’re tired, but we’re almost home, so that can’t be it. I want to know what’s wrong so I could help.”

Dipper shook his head and continued walking, still holding one of Will’s hands, though. It was a good sign, at least.

"It's just that... well, you know” Dipper said after a few more minutes.

“What?”

“Mabel hangs out with unicorns and magical things more often than we do.”

“Dipper…”

“And the one time I go looking for something and you decide to help me, I waste a whole day of our time for something we could have finished in five minutes. It wasn’t very exciting, anyway.”

“Actually, I liked spending this time with you. It doesn’t have to be some grandiose adventure.”

The human looked somewhat uncomfortable.

“Will… We just spent, like, ten hours walking it shouldn’t have been that bad. We could've done anything else. I’m sorry.”

“Well, I don’t think it was that bad at all”.

“What?” Dipper just stared at the demon, confused.

“I love spending time with you even if it’s just ten hours of going in circles in the forest.”

“…Will-”

“I mean it.”

 

The human smiled a little, and gave the demon’s hand a squeeze. He returned it. Dipper nearly stumbled over some small rocks, still damp from the rain yesterday, and kept going. He seemed tired. Looks like he wasn't a big fan of continuous walking in circles. Will considered removing those trees that were struck by lightning and clean up the usual paths, because Dipper pronably viewed them as a challenge, and it was all fun and games until the human walked in circles for hours to the point of hardly being able to walk ant all anymore.

“Just… Stop being stubborn and ask for some help next time, if you want to spend less time going in circles.”

Dipper Chuckled. “Alright.”

Will let go of Dipper’s hand. They continued walking. The human didn't say anything, just stuffed his hands in his pockets and seemed lost in thought again.

Will hummed.

“Well, here we are.”

Dipper looked confused for a moment before realizing they’ve made it back to the mansion. He looked uncertain for a moment, before giving Will a genuine smile. The demon returned it.

“Get some sleep, Dipper. I wouldn’t mind if you decided to go for another ‘boring’ ten hour walk with me tomorrow. I’m serious.”

“I know.” Dipper smiled. “Oh, Will?”

“Hmm?”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Dipper.”

“No. Really - thank you.”

The demon just smiled and nodded.

He waited until Dipper went inside before disappearing into thin air, not before taking a note on how exhausted the human looked.

_...He just might clear those fallen trees now, anyway._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If the unicorns in canon Gravity Falls are beautiful fairy-land beasts that pretend to be good and pure with over-the-top names but are actually assholes that teach us that no one is truly 'good', I hope that in Reverse Falls they pretend to be evil satanists or whatever with an actual heart of gold and silly one syllable names that teach us that no one is truly 'evil'.
> 
> Unfortunately for me, this is way deeper than the fic itself. I apologize though, I've written it on about 4 hours of sleep and I bet it shows lol.  
> Please pretend that it subverts the 'exciting grand adventure' trope and is actually an alright fic. I'll wait.


	2. Snow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the first time Will sees snow. Naturally, he and Dipper decide to make a snowman.

Will hummed, squinting at a sheet of paper he was holding. The demon was making his serious, concentrated face for a while now, and Dipper couldn’t possibly see it as anything other than absolutely adorable. It didn’t even contain any important information, yet here was Will, acting as if the little weather-flowchart he drew for the demon was the grandest, best kept secret of humanity.

“So wait, I wanna know if I get it,” Will started again.

“Go on”.

“If liquid in your atmosphere falls first and freezes on its way down, it’s called hail.”

“So far so good, yeah.”

“…And if it freezes first and falls after, it’s snow.”

“Looks like you got it,” Dipper smiled.

Will leaned back against him, looking rather enlightened. He blinked a few times and looked at nothing in particular, a huge grin spreading on his face as he folded the paper and stuffed it in his pocket.

“That’s actually fascinating,” he murmured, patting Dipper’s arm, signaling him to keep walking, which the human did.

“Back at my… old place,” Will continued – his reluctance to call his birth-planet his “home” didn’t go unnoticed by Dipper, but the human decided to listen to the demon rather than interrupt him – “We only had liquid rain. It wasn’t water, so I don’t know if calling it “rain” is acceptable, but I’m just trying to say that it was never cold enough for solid rains like snow or hail.”

“Mm. Pretty sure you can call it rain so long as it’s liquid and came out of clouds.”

Will seemed to light up and Dipper just couldn’t help but laugh.

“You’re adorable, you know that?”

“…Yes,” Will replied, sticking his tongue out.

Dipper chuckled again.

"What did you guys have, then?"

Will blinked several times, trying to remember something. Probably the name of it.

"It's uh, that liquid metal you humans used to have in thermometers?"

"Oh, Mercury?"

"Yeah. I think."

"That's pretty cool", Dipper hummed. "And it didn't damage you?"

"Not at all", Will shook his head. "Demons are impervious to metal poisoning."

"Wish humans could be impervious to toxic rain."

"Give it a few centuries," the demon smiled, "and you might be."

Dipper wasn't sure whether Will was just being optimistic again, or maybe he knew more about human adaptability than most scientists did. Looks like the demon didn't think his remark was very impressive either way, as he was just looking at the snow around him with a sense of wonder.

 

“So, now that you’ve seen both hail in the autumn and snow now” – Here Dipper paused for a moment to gesture around them with his hand, “Which do you like better?”

“Is that even a question?” Will smiled. “The snow is way better, of course.”

“Of course? Today is the first time you saw any!”

“I saw enough to like it more than coarse chunks of ice that leave cracks in people’s windows.”

“That’s fair."

They kept walking. The town looked peaceful that evening. Quiet, dark, covered in a blanket of fluffy, soft snow. The street lights looked like fireflies, lost in the snow. They enjoyed the silence as they walked nowhere in particular. Will looked up, smiling suddenly and held his hand out.

"Hey," Will pulled at his sleeve. Dipper turned to him.

"It's snowing."

Dipper looked up just in time for a snowflake to fall on his nose and quickly melt away.

Will laughed.

"if it was hail, you could've lost an eye."

"…Or my nose," Dipper countered.

Will has pulled back his coat hood at that point, seemingly content with letting snow into his hair. The demon seemed more excited than he has been in days. But then again, he hasn't really seen a snowfall before, so Dipper just decided to let him have his fun.

"Come on," he called suddenly, "you said we can make a snowman out of this"

Dipper rolled his eyes when Will left the main path and walked over to a deposit of snow. The demon started collecting snow together and depositing it on a bench, spreading it out and pressing on it to create a shape.

 

"What are you doing?" Dipper asked curiously. Will turned to him, smiling.

"I'm building a snowman", he replied cheerfully. Dipper chuckled.

"Actually, snowmen are basically three spheres of snow, decreasing in size, stacked on top of each other with sticks for hands and carrots for noses."

Will turned to him, horrified.

"Then why are they called "snowmen"?"

"I dunno," Dipper shrugged. "Whoever came up with that term might've thought it's a humanoid enough shape."

"That's stupid." Will pouted. "Help me make a realistic one instead."

"Alright then," Dipper smiled, joining the demon.

He started stacking snow onto the bench and watched Will craft it into a more human shape. A torso, a pair of legs, arms – that disturbingly enough kept falling off, much to the demon's chagrin. He kept collecting snow and attempting to reattach them. Eventually, he succeeded, but the crude shape still lacked a head.

"Do you wanna keep it like that?" Dipper smirked.

Will looked at him accusingly.

"Without a head?"

"Sure. It's artistic. Sends a message."

"And what message would that be?" Will asked, skeptical.

"That we don't like snowmen here and that this bench is for the living."

"Nice try," the demon laughed, "come on, we're not leaving it like this."

 

They spent the next fifteen minutes or so trying to put a head on the snowman and reattach some limbs that kept falling off. Will was getting frustrated, but Dipper just couldn't stop laughing. Eventually they remade the arms and leaned them against the top of the bench, creating a bored-looking snowman that seemed like he was watching the townspeople as they passed by. When they were finished, they took a few steps back to admire their work. Dipper has decided to adorn it with a few sticks to create a waistline separating between the snow creation's hypothetical shirt and trousers, as well as small rocks for eyes. Although the demon seemed rather skilled, considering this was the first time he's made a snowman at all, he did draw the line at trying to sculpt the snowman a face.

 

"Does he deserve a scarf?" Dipper gestured at the snowman.

"I don't think so. He doesn't even have a neck. I'd say he deserves a cast, if anything, 'cause his arms kept breaking."

"Ha. Well, good thing we were such efficient doctors."

"Yeah, that was fun," the demon smiled.

"You mean frustrating?" Dipper teased. Will pouted.

"Hey, I didn't know snow is that fragile."

"Or cold?"

Will shrugged. "Not really. I didn't mind it that much. Why, are you cold?"

"…A bit, yeah."

 

The demon looked at him wordlessly, before taking Dipper's hands in his own. He gently removed the human's gloves, and before Dipper could complain, he noticed that the air around him started to warp. He immediately felt warmth engulfing his hands and looked at Will's concentrated expression. As his hands finally started to feel something other than numbness, he wondered what temperature the demon was working with here, and whether his gloves would've caught fire had they not been removed.

 

"Yeah, they might've", Will answered under his breath before he could stop himself.

"…Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"Hey, it's fine. I'm not complaining." Dipper smiled.

Will returned the smile and slid Dipper's gloves back over the human's hands before he let go of them.

"Better?"

Dipper smiled, pressing a kiss to the demon's forehead.

"Much, thank you."

 

Dipper took one of Will's gloved hands in his own, and they kept walking.

He paused for a moment and looked at Will.

The demon looked back at him, curious.

"Next snowman, we're sticking to the basics."

Will smiled, shaking his head.

"Sure."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://66.media.tumblr.com/46eddf67d124339d82d828fcc65918be/tumblr_mx8jgxff9a1rv7xc7o1_500.jpg  
> Based on this snowman lmao.


	3. Seasonal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for being late. 12 hours shift weeks are exhausting.  
> I promise to catch up on all the days by the 16th!! Sorry for the mess.

“Well? What do you think?”

Dipper sighed at Mabel’s impatience and took another sip from the cup he was holding, considering it for a while. It wasn’t anything special. Felt more like an explosion of artificial sweeteners than a drink. He made a face before shrugging.

“I don’t know, Mabel. I’m not a fan.”

He almost rolled his eyes at the shocked gasps from Mabel and Will.

“What do you mean ‘not a fan’? It’s awesome!” Mabel countered. She put a hand to her head as if the mere idea was impossible to believe. Standing beside her, Will also made an uncertain face.

“…Any reason as to why you didn’t like it?” the demon asked.

“I dunno,” Dipper shrugged. “It feels pretty artificial, I guess? I don’t think it’s that good.”

“That’s fine,” Mabel declared, raising her hands up in a surrendering gesture. “It’s not like I needed a brother anyway.”

This time, Will was the one to roll his eyes when Mabel got up and left, muttering something about not wanting to be seen in public with people who ‘disrespect good drinks’.

“So,” Will said, “what’s it like to be an only child every time Mabel disapproves of your food or drink choices?”

“Pretty much the same, to be honest” Dipper smiled, “It’s not like either of us is going to get better things for Christmas now.”

Will smiled back at him. “Still,” the demon sighed, “It’s a bit of a shame, I think it’s a good drink.”

“Well, you can have it.” Dipper said, picking up the cup and raising it up for Will to take. “I’m not gonna finish it anyway. It feels like artificial death in a cup.”

Will hesitated momentarily before finally accepting the drink.

“Thank you” he murmured.

“Don’t mention it. Let’s go home, there’s no sense in staying here. Everything’s overpriced anyway.”

Will nodded and hummed.

 

* * *

 

“What do you mean you don’t like Caramel Brulée Latte? Everyone likes Caramel Brulée Latte!”

Pacifica looked at him, quite shocked. She acted as if there never was a bigger sin. Her disbelief and hurt deep enough for an uninformed passerby to get the mistaken impression that Dipper Gleeful was kicking puppies at his spare time and enjoying it.  Mabel stood behind her, nodding.

“Well then, everyone is stupid.” He quickly turned to the demon. “No offense, Will.”

“None taken.”

“He’s just trying to be a hipster, really,” Mabel chimed in. “He keeps talking about artificial sweeteners as if they have personally wronged him or as if anyone could actually tell the difference. I mean, Will is a demon, and even he can’t tell!”

“…Actually, I can. It just doesn’t bother me that much.”

“See?” She turned to her brother triumphantly. “Even your boyfriend thinks you’re wrong!”

“Frankly, I don’t think my boyfriend cares whether or not I like whatever it is Starbucks deems exclusive for the current month.”

“I’d say Will’s disappointed in your lack of Christmas spirit.”

“…If anyone wants my actual opinion,” the demon interjected, “I think arguing ruins the Christmas spirit more than anyone’s individual opinion about some coffee.”

Dipper turned to his sister, amused.

“There you go. Happy now?”

Mabel just huffed.

 

* * *

 

The next day, Will went out early, and came back with too many bags from the grocery store, before going to the kitchen for an hour and not coming out ever since. Dipper wondered if he could possibly be unpacking everything for so long, but when he went to check, he found out he was wrong.

There were a few dozen mugs on the tables, as well as several opened containers of coffee, chocolate, caramel and whipped cream.

Then the kettle shrieked.

“Woah…” Dipper spoke. “I see you’re re-enacting the battle of… something,” he further observed, picking up one of the red mugs with bauble prints and looking at it. This one was empty.

“Yeah,” the demon replied, absent-mindedly. “The festive ones are winning.”

“Good for them. Are you on their side?”

“Definitely,” Will chuckled.

“So…. What are you doing, exactly?”

“Trying to make a better seasonal drink for you. I think I’ve almost got the amounts right this time.”

“Aw, Will, that’s really nice of you, but you didn’t have to go through all that trouble. I like lots of other drinks.”

“I know,” the demon shrugged, “but there’s no better way of getting into the holiday spirit than with some Christmas drinks. Besides, it can’t possibly be worse than eggnog.”

“Ugh, that’s true, yeah” Dipper shuddered.

“Right,” the demon said, probably to himself, “While you’re here, let me know what you think of this one-“

At that point, Will picked up the kettle, poured some boiling water into a half-full mug, added whipped cream and sprinkled some orange-brown looking dust on top of it.

He then carefully pushed the mug towards Dipper.

The human laughed.

“Seriously? That’s what it’s all about? You’re still thinking about that whole coffee fiasco?”

“Well… you aren’t opposed to any of the ingredients or the drink itself as a winter thing, so I thought maybe you’d like a home-made version. You know, without any quantity over quality or artificial stuff.”

“…Have I ever told you that you care too much?”

“Well, someone has to,” the demon said. “Anyway, it should be alright. Try it out.”

Dipper picked up the mug and gave the drink a sip.

This time he felt actual caramel in it – not some fake flavor syrup, but real caramel – and just a touch of coffee. Despite that, it wasn’t too heavy on the sugar.

“Hey, that’s actually awesome! What’d you put in it, Will?”

“About half a shelf of coffee-related stuff off the supermarket,” the demon joked. “I’m glad you like it.”

“Like it? Will, that’s amazing! You could probably make your own company if you can memorize that and about five more recipes.”

“I’d rather not,” the demon chuckled. “I’d much rather make myself some, too, and get on to decorating a tree.”

“Fair enough. But I’m writing the amounts and ingredients down.”

“…You’re dying to prove Mabel wrong, aren’t you?”

“Maybe… But I’m mainly getting into the Christmas spirit now.”

Will started laughing again. And this time, it was a while before he could stop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOT SPONSORED. We don't have a starbucks in a 50 kilometer radius. Wouldn't have the means of getting there if I wanted to, either.


	4. Cultural Exchange

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super sorry for the delay. Had a rough couple of weeks. Real life comes at you hard and nearly losing someone you love is pretty difficult. Don't worry though, the other chapters are on their way now.

“What do you mean that’s not sour?”

“I mean… I don’t mind it, I guess?” Will shrugged.

They were sitting in the living room, burning time until a good movie came on, which would only be in about forty minutes. Bored out of his mind, the demon went to grab snacks. He came back with a wide variety of bagged snacks, as well as some fruits so that they wouldn’t finish all the actual snacks before the movie started. Dipper reluctantly grabbed an apple while the demon took a bite off of some yellow looking oversized tangerine. When Dipper asked, Will just shrugged and said it’s a lemon. The human was impressed. 

“But it’s a lemon! These things are basically inedible on their own.”

The demon just shrugged again, poking at the fruit with his nails, trying to force another slice to separate from the others.  
“One moment, I think Mabel left a few of those candies her hippie friends like. Let me check.”  
  
Will looked amused when the human got up and left the living room. He took the remote and checked the time. Thirty-seven minutes until that _The_ _Godfather_ movie comes on TV. Dipper claimed that this is the best movie of all time. Will remembered asking why not just buy a copy instead of waiting for it to come on, and his boyfriend just said that _“I do have a Blu-Ray disc, Mabel just keeps stealing it. We might as well wait, it’ll be easier than calling my sister and managing to locate it over at her place.”_  


“Hey Will. I found them. Here, try one.”  
Will was pulled out of his thoughts by a tiny bag with a yellow container on it that read “toxic waste”. He looked at Dipper curiously.  
“These are apparently the sourest of the bunch. Wanna give them a try?”  
“Might as well,” Will said, proceeding to open the little container bag.  
He popped the candy in his mouth, gave it a few moments, and shrugged.

“God damnit, Will, how do you do that?”  
“I don’t ‘do’ anything”, the demon confessed. “It just doesn’t bother me.”

“Are you going to tell me you’re used to far more sour food from back in your own childhood? I wouldn’t be surprised to hear you guys had something, like 30 times sourer over there.”  
“Oh, I recall giving you some bitter ones to try,” Will teased.  
  
Dipper recalled the time, not too long ago, when he bragged to Will that ‘no matter what you used to have on your home planet, I bet earth has crazier stuff’. Naturally, Will took that as a challenge and vanished for about a week. He came back with small fruits, dark green in shade and overall, rather grape-like. He asked Dipper to try one, and to Dipper’s misfortune, the damn thing tasted like the horrid old medicine his parents used to insist is the best cure every time he was sick as a child… Similar, but probably a hundred times worse or so.   
  
He shuddered at the memory. Truly, it was the worst decision he has made in his life by far.

“Ugh, don’t remind me, I don’t think I’ve recovered from that thing yet.”  
“It wasn’t that bad!”  
“What are you talking about?” Dipper whispered, horrified. “That thing tasted like death!”  
The demon laughed at his absolutely horrified tone. He shook his head and sighed when Dipper crossed his arms. “Alright,” he conceded, “those really were kinda gross. Not really my favourites.”  
“Ha!” the human exclaimed, triumphant. “Knew it!”  
“I was expected to eat some, from time to time”, the demon shrugged. “At ceremonies, mainly.”  
“I bet that’s why you left that place too.”  
“Because the edible stuff was too intense?”  
“Clearly. I mean, if that’s what passes as ‘food’ anywhere I lived in? I would’ve left.”  
“A nice idea, but not really the reason, no.”  
“I know, I know,” the human replied. “Anyway, back to the current issue-“ and here Dipper had to briefly stop talking to reject Will’s offer of a lemon slice, “yes, those. How come you don’t think they’re sour?”

“Well… demons can’t really feel sourness.”  
  


Dipper blinked, surprised. That wasn’t the answer he expected.

“What do you mean ‘can’t feel’? what does it taste like, then?”  
“Chewing it just makes my mouth feel cold. Like, uh, there’s this gum flavor that does the same…”

“You mean mint?”  
“Yeah, that’s the one.”   
“How do you know what sour is if you can’t feel it, anyway?”

Will frowned, trying to think the best way to describe the situation.  
“Both by going through human memories and descriptions in some botanical and herbalist books, really.”   


Dipper hummed, looking impressed. He knew Will for a couple of years now, and yet the topic never came up, somehow. He was somewhat ashamed to discover that he genuinely didn’t give much thought to it until now. It made him wonder what other basic everyday stuff he didn’t know about the demon.

 

“How come you never mentioned it?”  
“Hmm?”  
“You know, not being able to register an entire flavor?”  
“Well, it’s not that big a deal,” Will shrugged. “I don’t feel like I’m missing out on any valuable life experiences.”  
“I know, it’s just, It’s weird. You know everything there is to know about me, and yet I don’t know stuff that basic about you.”  
“That’s not true. You know me amazingly well.” Dipper made a face, and was about to comment when the demon held a hand up to stop him. “That? That’s just stupid demon-trivia. Not something that is unique to me. You don’t have to worry about it. There’s plenty of human trivia I don’t know either. Doesn’t make me feel like I know less about _you_ , though.”  
Dipper sighed. “Alright, fair enough. I’m sorry.”  
“Please don’t be. I don’t mind telling you all about that ridiculous nonsense whenever we have more free time.”  
“Hell, we have free time right now”.  
“We have, like, half an hour until the movi-“  
“Forget the movie. I can record it. I wanna hear about all the weird demon stuff you’ve been up to.”

Will blinked several times, confused.  
“But… we can talk about that whenever. You said _The Godfather_ is your favourite”.  
“My favourite movie, yes. _You’re_ my favourite In general” the human winked at him.

The demon burst out laughing.

“Fine,” he said. “I’ll start with what I can remember off the top of my head, and we’ll see from there. Oh, and there’s some weird details along the way, so if you want me to talk about the-“  
  
“You bet I do!” the human smiled back at him, eyes bright.  
  
“Well… Your best bet is getting a pen and some paper, then.” Will hummed. “Because it gets weird.”  
  


Dipper got up before the demon could even register it happening.

He smiled patiently at the sound of hurried footsteps and looked back at the TV, wondering what he should tell him.

After all, there were only twenty six minutes left…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM making something for "Memory", by the way. I've just decided to make it a 2 parter and post it outside of this work, because I want to dedicate it to someone who is important to me. It should be out in the coming days, as well as the rest of the chapters.


	5. Holiday Themed

“Are you sure you’re okay with this?”

“For the sixth time this evening, Yes Mabel.”

“It’s just that… well, I don’t think we’ve spent Christmas apart before.”

“No, we haven’t, but there’s a first time for everything I guess.”

“…I almost feel mean for going through with this. No one deserves to be alone on Christmas.”

“I won’t be alone, Mabel. I talked to Will, and I’m pretty sure he’s coming over later today.”

“He’s a demon, though. I’m not sure how well he understands Christmas, if at all.”

“I think he understands it better than we do, to be honest. He probably knows the tradition from back when the holiday first started.”

“Hah. Maybe. Just don’t take him too seriously if he suggests blowing the mansion up or anything.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t. Just go already, your flight’s in four hours.”

“I’m going, I’m going. Merry Christmas, Dipper.”

“Merry Christmas, Mabel.”

 

Dipper stood by the door as Mabel got into the car, where Pacifica was already waiting in the passenger seat, and waved at them as his sister drove off, before going back inside. Stan and Ford had a tradition of taking themselves a Christmas vacation every year (well, that had mostly been Stan, always on the hunt for cheap holiday deals, or at least as cheap as he could find for the overly commercialized holiday. Ford was coming along to make sure Stan didn’t get arrested). This year, Mabel has decided to take a leaf out of their book and take her hippie girlfriend to Paris for a week, which means he had the mansion all to himself.

“You guys had a bigger Christmas tree last year.”

Dipper smirked, turning around only to find his boyfriend and local demon, inspecting his Christmas decoration. Will was currently examining the tree, going around it, looking thoroughly unimpressed.

“Well, we left it around long enough for Waddles to decide that plastic is on the menu. I swear he’s part goat.”

Luckily for him, when Mabel told him she’d be leaving the country for a week, she was kind enough to agree to send the pig to Pacifica’s parents. They seemed completely on board with taking care of the animal, but Dipper suspected it’s only going to be this time. After all, Waddles didn’t listen to anyone other than Mabel, a fact which the hippie family will soon become familiar, if they haven’t already.

“He ate a whole layer? Impressive.”

“Eh, not that big a deal. Fewer people sticking around to appreciate the tree this year anyway.”

“Fewer humans, you mean.”

“…Fewer beings who actually celebrate the holiday this piece of plastic was bought for, yes.”

“Maybe I don’t celebrate ‘Christmas’,” Will smiled, turning away from the tree and towards Dipper, “but I am quite fond of the winter solstice. And, you know, that’s where Christmas actually draws inspiration from.”

“Inspiring indeed,” Dipper mused. “Hey, let’s celebrate each other’s holidays, then.”

“…What do you mean?”

“What I mean is that you are obviously quite familiar with Christmas, but I don’t know enough about the winter solstice and how it’s actually celebrated. So enlighten me.”

The demon hummed, thinking.

“Well… that would be tricky. I mean, it is today, after all.”

Dipper approached the demon, smiling now.

“And you were fine with just coming over and spending time with me rather than celebrating your own holiday?”

“Of course,” Will replied, his tone almost offended. “Celebrating or no, I wasn’t going to let you be alone for a week. That gets boring pretty quickl- hey, what’s so funny?”

“You know, the usual.” Dipper said. He was clearly having a hard time keeping a straight face at the demon’s confused pout.  
  
“Well, that’s actually the most adorable gesture I’ve ever seen in my life. Stuff you expect to see in romance flicks. I’m just surprised to be on the receiving end of it.”

Will shrugged.

“Hey, it’s not that big a deal. I haven’t ‘celebrated’ solstice in a while anyway. I’d much rather be here with you.”

“Thanks, love.” Dipper said. Will beamed.

“Hey, everyone’s left in such a hurry that we haven’t gotten around to decorating the tree at all.”

The demon’s eyes lit up. If the last two Christmases were anything to go by, Will loved decorating the tree. He found the idea of fascinating. Well, at least the idea of colorful tinsel, since it was still supposed to stand for the sheets of snow and ice covering a tree during winter, even though the added colors defeated its purpose and buried it for the sake of artificial splendor.

“We can decorate it right now, if you’d like.”

“I’d love to.”

-?-

“So,” Dipper started, a few minutes into decorating. They’ve just brought two whole boxes that were definitely too much for the semi-eaten plastic pretender, but he refused to deny Will the opportunity to have as much glittery garbage to choose from as he could possibly find. “What did you do to celebrate solstice? You know, back in the day.”

“Bonfires,” the demon replied, sticking a bauble on a particularly tall branch that thought it had a chance to escape the onslaught of tinsel and plastic. “Huge ones. We built them in the morning, light them up at sunset, and kept them burning all through the night. You know. Balance out the darkness.”

“Woah.”

“Heh, yes, they were rather magnificent.”

“Isn’t that a human thing though? “

“What? Bonfires?”

“Yes. I mean, I thought-“

“Where do you think the humans got the idea to waste so much precious firewood from?” Will smiled. “Demons, my dear.”

“Give humanity some credit, we’re still good at wasting resources for increasingly dumber reasons.”

“Well, wasting resources or not, we also had fantastic hues rising with the flames, since we used our own magic to light them up.”

“Well,” Dipper sighed, “Looks like I missed out on some fantastic celebration yesterday.”

“Try two millennia ago,” Will smirked. “Don’t worry, I didn’t spend yesterday night stacking and burning logs.”

 

“I’m not worried at all,” Dipper said, adding the last bit of tinsel to the plastic tree. While it definitely looked like it’s seen better days just half an hour ago, now it actually looked somewhat lively.

Well, as lively as a fake, plastic tree could be, really.

“…I just wish I could’ve seen it.”

Will was quiet for a moment.

“Sorry. It’s silly, I know. It’s not my holiday or anything so I shouldn’t really care, but I just kinda wondered what it might have looked like.”

 

Will stepped from behind the tree, and before Dipper could register what was going on, he saw himself on the top of a hill, surrounded by excited chatter and people whose faces were illuminated by bright pink and silver flames. He looked up to see a burning formation at least three times his height, and wide enough to fit a small car in the middle of it. And behind it…

He walked around the burning pile, thinking he recognized some more light. And he did. On other hills, as well as flat terrains, other fires of similar sizes were burning, each one a different color or combination. There were green, blue, white, purple, gold… And they were everywhere. Dozens of them, not quite ‘as far as the eye can see’, but enough in quantity to fill any person’s field of vision if they looked at the fires from where he was standing at the moment.

And when he stopped focusing on them, he noticed that people were sitting around the one he was near, in small groups of three or four, and singing something cheerful and full of conviction in a language he did not understand. Interestingly, he didn’t really feel the need to. Knowing the words might ruin the mysticism and the otherworldliness of the experience.  


Some of the people were holding candles, their tiny flickering flames burning in the same pink and silver. Others would get up, each awaiting their turn, approach the fire and throw a log into it. The motions were definitely planned, as they happened perfectly clockwise. It was about to be his turn. He picked a log off the ground from a pile near a couple who have already thrown theirs in…

  
…And just as suddenly as it started, everything had stopped. He blinked, his eyes settling on Will, lowering his hands.  
  
  
“Wow.”

Will smiled.

“No, I mean it. Wow.”

“I know.”

“You were there.”

“Those were my memories, yes.”

“Will, that’s awesome. You should bring that back. I mean nowadays it’ll be a bit less magical because, you know, there’s science at play behind different colored fires, but it’s-“

“Dipper, it’s alright, calm down,” Will shushed. “I’ll definitely try to revive the idea for next year, if you’d still be interested.”

“If? Of course I’d still be interested!”

Will nodded, smiling. He turned his attention back to the tree, and Dipper did the same.

“In the meantime,” he hummed, “Do you feel like buying a new one? You know, tree. I feel like decorating something a bit… grander.”

“Oh, definitely.” Dipper agreed. The memory did leave the current reality with the somewhat chewed tree somewhat disappointing.

“Let me just grab us some coats and scarves.” He added. “And some paper. Might as well go Christmas shopping in general.”

Will seemed quite excited about the idea, eyes shining momentarily in that look of pure wonder and anticipation. Dipper knew Will loved Christmas, and loved spending time with him in general, so he ignored the urge to ask the demon how come decorating a tree was more exciting to him than bonfires the size of a house.

It was probably because the latter was more routinely to him than the former.

…Or maybe it was just the sheer amount of weird things he would get to see.

 

It didn’t matter, Dipper decided when they went outside.  
He could ask later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Added some of the day-5 goodness here as well because I *just* got the idea.


End file.
